Humor From Harry. By Geniusofdespair

by Harry Emilio Gottlieb

Harry Emilio Gottlieb is the City of Miami Film Czar. By Geniusofdespair

Harry Emilio Gottlieb, a contributor to Eye on Miami, has taken over the City of Miami film office. Robert Parente, his predecessor, was known to be in Joe Sanchez's camp. Harry's official title is: Director-Mayor's Office of Film, Arts, Culture & Entertainment.

We here at Eyeonmiami are fond of the personable Harry, we wish him a lot of luck in his new job.

CRA and other Bullshit by Guest Blogger Harry Emilio Gottlieb

It is an outrage that this CRA-Global Agreement has been pushed so fast through the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County. There is no justification why these projects are being developed at the same time that we are in a housing glut and approaching a recession.

We need more incentives for business to develop and less special projects. We certainly don’t need to help the Marlins or cater to the whims of their fickled fans.

These projects are way too expensive and should be voted on by the citizens.

It is a travesty that a few politicians and movers and shakers are determining how our taxes are to be spent and that these decisions will shape the future course of our community.

Let’s look at how unsuccessful our elected leaders have been so far with a list of money losers because of bad management and/or bad decisions:

The First Miami Arena, The Omni, Miami Marine Stadium, Carnival Performing Arts Center, Metrorail, people Mover, DDA, buses and bus benches, proliferation of illegal billboards and murals, the illegal fire fee, the "Firm", the glut of condominiums, the FEC yard transformation that is almost a ghost town, rezoning and variances for special interest groups, investing in sub-prime hedge funds and the list goes on...

This is proof once again that we need to limit the parameters of what our elected officials can try to justify, without first determining the will of the citizens, and this should be done through the voting booth.

Harry Emilio Gottlieb's (Guest Blogger) Plea: Mercy Please No More Unnecessary Condos!

Grove Activist Glenn Terry was absolutely correct when he wrote in his Sunday Miami Herald column In My Opinion, that “Coconut Grove needs another high-rise like Johnny Winton needs another drink.” It was a most sobering observation!

What Mercy Hospital needs to do is to build a quality Assisted Living Facility and not sell off a portion of its G/I zoned property to the Related Group for them to add more luxury condos to the glut that already exists.

Selling this property to a condo developer will only be a short term fix for Mercy’s financial crisis.

What our community really requires and what will be of greatest benefit in the long run for Mercy Hospital is a very high quality Assisted Living Facility.

The demand for a good A.L.F. is very strong and getting stronger with each year that the Baby Booms continue to age.

The Mercy property is properly zoned for an A.L.F..

An A.L.F. will be a much needed and a most profitable revenue stream for Mercy Hospital.

There is no justification to rezone Mercy property from G/I to R-4 or even R-3 just to accommodate the building of more unnecessary luxury condos and provide Mercy with a temporary solution to their many years of mismanagement that have resulted in this financial crisis.

There is no reason to compromise on reducing the height and density of the three luxury condos that the Related Group insists on planting on this property that is zoned for medical and health care purposes.

The final City of Miami Commission meeting takes place April 26th, to decide the future of the Mercy Hospital property, the Pandora’s Box that may result with all other G/I zoned properties and the future of our community.

Please contact your City of Miami Mayor, Commissioner and Manager and request them to please respect our zoning codes and the Grovener Rule that our community insisted on and that they helped pass and are responsible to honor and protect for the good of us all.